Support → Loopback

Information for: Airfoil for MacAudio HijackLoopbackPiezoSoundSource

About background processes used by Loopback

With the release of MacOS 13 (Ventura) and MacOS 14 (Sonoma), options for managing background processes are organized in the System Settings application (formerly known as System Preferences).

Two types of background processes are controllable in MacOS:

• Login items: These are apps listed in the Open at Login table
• Background items: These are processes listed in the Allow in the Background section.

Several of Rogue Amoeba’s products use background items which must be enabled for the software to work correctly. This article provides more details on these processes, as well as on optional login items which improve functionality.

Loopback’s required background items

Loopback has two required background items, “Rogue Amoeba Audio Capture Engine (ACE)” and “Loopback”. ACE is the essential technology that allows Loopback to access and control audio on your Mac, while the “Loopback” item is responsible for managing Loopback’s virtual audio devices when the main app isn’t running.

Loopback needs both of these processes to be enabled in the background in order to function correctly. If either is disabled, Loopback will alert you, and require you to re-enable before the application is fully launched. See the Re-enabling background items section below for more detailed instructions.

Re-enabling background items

Both the ACE component and the “Loopback” item must be allowed to run in the background for Loopback to function properly. If either is disabled, Loopback will alert you to re-enable it when the application is launched.

Re-enabling a background item is easy, and can be done in just a few seconds.

1. From the warning prompt in Loopback, click the Open System Settings link.

   

   Alternately, open the System Settings app, click the General option on the left side, then click the the Login Items option.

2. Find ACE listed in the Background Items section, and click the switch to re-enable it.

   

3. You’ll be prompted to enter the username and password for an administrator account on your Mac, to authorize the change.

   

4. Once complete, return to the app to continue through the process.

If the Loopback background item was also disabled, you’ll get an additional prompt to fix it.



5. Similar to fixing ACE, click the Open System Settings link to re-open the app to find Loopback listed in the Allow in the Background section.

   

6. Click the toggle for the Loopback item, so it’s also re-enabled alongside ACE.

   

   Once complete, return to Loopback to finish the repair process.

Loopback will now be able to launch and run as expected.

Troubleshooting issues with background items

Since background items and their notifications are new to MacOS 13 (Ventura), there are some rough edges in the initial rollout. If MacOS shows the wrong name for our ACE component, or has extra notifications and listings of our software, please use the troubleshooting steps below to help sort things out.

If you see “Audio Hijack” listed in the Allow in the Background section

Initial versions of MacOS 13 (Ventura) attempted to set a recognizable name for background items, using apps which may be related to the process. Unfortunately, that resulted in the ACE component being incorrectly listed as “Audio Hijack”. As a result, you might find an item called “Audio Hijack” in the Allow in the Background section of the settings area:

While this erroneous “Audio Hijack” entry won’t cause any issues, you may wish to remove it from the Allow in the Background section. You can do so with a current version of Airfoil, Audio Hijack, Loopback, Piezo, or SoundSource.

First, quit the System Settings app. Next, uninstall ACE from within any of the aforementioned apps. Finally, launch the app again to reinstall ACE.

When you’re done, the Allow in the Background section will show the correct “Rogue Amoeba Audio Capture Engine (ACE)” item, and the “Audio Hijack” item will be gone.